Chip-on-board assemblies, carrier assemblies and carrier substrates using residual organic compounds to facilitate gate break

ABSTRACT

An encapsulant molding technique used in chip-on-board encapsulation wherein a residual organic compound layer on the surface of a substrate is used to facilitate removal of unwanted encapsulant material. An organic compound layer which inherently forms on the substrate during the fabrication of the substrate or during various chip attachment processes is masked in a predetermined location with a mask. The substrate is then cleaned to remove the organic compound layer. The mask protects the masked portion of the organic material layer which becomes a release layer to facilitate gate break. An encapsulant mold is placed over the substrate and chip and an encapsulant material is injected into the encapsulant mold cavity through an interconnection channel. The release layer is formed in a position to reside as the bottom of the interconnection channel. Preferably, the interconnection channel has a gate adjacent the encapsulant mold cavity. The encapsulant material solidifies and the encapsulant mold is removed, wherein the gate forms an indentation abutting the cavity. Excess encapsulant solidified in the interconnection channel is leveraged from the surface of the substrate and broken free at the indentation. The remaining release layer may then be removed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/886,782,filed Jun. 21, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,960 B2, issued Feb. 25,2003, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/574,471, filedMay 19, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,186, issued Feb. 11, 2003, whichis a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/019,209, filed Feb. 5, 1998,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,708, issued Sep. 12, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to chip-on-board encapsulation. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to an encapsulant moldingtechnique used in chip-on-board encapsulation wherein a hydrophobic,residual organic compound layer on the surface of a carrier substrate isused to facilitate removal of unwanted encapsulant material depositedduring the molding operation.

2. State of the Art

In the fabrication of semiconductor devices, a common circuitintegration technique involves attaching individual semiconductorcomponents, such as semiconductor chips, to a surface of a carriersubstrate, such as a printed circuit board (e.g. FR-4), ceramicsubstrate, BT substrate, cyanate ester substrate, or silicon substrate,by any known chip-on-board attachment technique. Such chip-on-boardattachment techniques include, but are not limited to, flip-chipattachment, TAB attachment, and wire bond attachment. After attachment,the semiconductor components may be encapsulated with a viscous liquidor gel insulative material (e.g., silicones, polyimides, epoxies,plastics, and the like) (“encapsulant material”) with a transfer moldingtechnique. This encapsulation (depending on its formulation) allows eachsemiconductor component to better withstand exposure to a wide varietyof environmental conditions, such as moisture, ion impingements, heat,and abrasion.

An exemplary transfer molding technique for forming an encapsulant overa semiconductor component is illustrated in FIGS. 11-16. It should beunderstood that the figures presented in conjunction with thisdescription are not meant to be actual views of any particular portionof an actual semiconducting component or molding device, but are merelyidealized representations which are employed to more clearly and fullydepict the process of the invention than would otherwise be possible.

FIG. 11 illustrates a pair of semiconductor components 202 attached to acarrier substrate 204 and in electrical communication with the carriersubstrate 204 through a plurality of wire bonds 206. As shown in FIGS.12 and 13, a multi-cavity encapsulant mold 208 is placed over thecarrier substrate 204 and semiconductor components 202 (shown in shadowline in the top plan view illustrated in FIG. 12), such that cavities210 (shown in shadow line in the top plan view illustrated in FIG. 12)of the multi-cavity encapsulant mold 208 are substantially centered overeach semiconductor component 202. The multi-cavity encapsulant mold 208is pressed against the carrier substrate 204 to prevent the border orother portions of the carrier substrate 204 from being covered byencapsulant material to be subsequently injected.

The cavities 210 of the multi-cavity encapsulant mold 208 are usuallyconnected by an interconnection array of channels 212 connected to acentral reservoir 214 (see FIG. 12) from which an encapsulant material,such as a molten particle-filled polymer, is fed under pressure.Usually, the channels 212 have constricted regions called “gates” 216adjacent each cavity 210, as shown in FIG. 13. The gate 216 controls theflow and injection velocity of the encapsulant material 218 into eachcavity 210 and forms a break point abutting the cavity 210 to permitremoval of the excess channel encapsulant 222 which solidifies in thechannels 212, as shown in FIG. 14. After the encapsulation of thesemiconductor component 202 is complete and the encapsulant solidified,the multi-cavity encapsulant mold 208 is removed, as shown in FIG. 15.The excess channel encapsulant 222 at locations defined by channels 212is then leveraged (shown in shadow lines in FIG. 15) from the surface ofthe carrier substrate 204 and broken free at an indentation 226 formedby the gate 216 (see FIGS. 13 and 14), called “gate break,” as shown inFIG. 16.

The adhesion of the solidified encapsulant material 218 to the carriersubstrate 204 must be very strong such that the solidified encapsulantmaterial 218 does not detach from carrier substrate 204. However, thisstrong adhesion is disadvantageous when attempting to remove the excesschannel encapsulant 222 from the carrier substrate 204. If the adhesionforce between the excess channel encapsulant 222 and the carriersubstrate 204 exceeds the cohesive strength of the material of thecarrier substrate 204 itself, the carrier substrate 204 will delaminateor rupture when the excess channel encapsulant 222 is leveraged from thesurface of the carrier substrate 204.

Various methods have been devised to prevent the excess channelencapsulant from adhering to the carrier substrate. One such method ispresented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,171, issued Aug. 6, 1996 to Juskey etal. (“the Juskey patent”), which relates to treating a predeterminedportion of the surface of the carrier substrate over which the moldchannels will reside to prevent the excess encapsulant material thereonfrom adhering to the carrier substrate. The Juskey patent teachesselectively contaminating the surface portion with an ink or a polymer.A drawback of the Juskey patent is that applying inks or polymers to thecarrier substrate surface risks contamination of the area adjacent asemiconductor chip, which contamination may prevent the adhesion of theencapsulant material over the semiconductor chip to the carriersubstrate, resulting in a compromised package.

Furthermore, the technique taught in the Juskey patent would not beapplicable to FR-4 substrates (flame retardant epoxy glass laminate).FR-4 requires a cleaning step, such as plasma cleaning, just beforeencapsulation to remove unwanted organic compounds in order to obtainsufficiently strong adhesion between the encapsulant material and theFR-4 substrate. Unfortunately, the plasma cleaning would also remove theink or polymer as taught in the Juskey patent and, as mentioned above,addition of inks or polymers after such cleaning would riskcontamination of the area adjacent a semiconductor chip. Thus, for anFR-4 substrate, the predetermined surface portion on the carriersubstrate is plated with gold. The gold plating adheres to the FR-4substrate, but not to most encapsulant materials. Also, thisnon-adhering property of the gold to encapsulant materials is notaffected during the plasma cleaning of the carrier substrate. However,such gold plating is expensive.

An alternative arrangement of channels which injects the encapsulantmaterial from the top (i.e., no excess encapsulant material on thecarrier substrate when encapsulating the semiconductor component) hasbeen used, but this requires a more complex and expensive moldingsystem.

Thus, it can be appreciated that it would be advantageous to develop aninexpensive technique to treat a predetermined portion of the surface ofthe carrier substrate, over which the transfer mold channels will resideto prevent the excess encapsulant material from sticking to the carriersubstrate while using commercially available, widely practicedsemiconductor device transfer-molding packaging techniques.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an encapsulant molding technique usedin chip-on-board encapsulation wherein a hydrophobic, residual organiccompound layer on the surface of a carrier substrate is used tofacilitate removal of unwanted encapsulant material.

During the fabrication of the carrier substrate or during variouschip-on-board attachment processes, such as attaching a semiconductorchip with an adhesive to a carrier substrate, a thin layer of organiccompounds forms over a surface of the carrier substrate on which thesemiconductor chip is attached. The organic compound layer is generallystripped with a cleaning step, such as plasma cleaning, beforeencapsulating the semiconductor chip, so that an encapsulant materialwill adhere to the carrier substrate. However, the present inventionutilizes a predetermined portion of the organic compound layer tofacilitate gate break.

A mask is applied over the predetermined portion of the organic compoundlayer. It is, of course, understood that the mask can be any materialwhich is capable of masking the organic compound layer including, butnot limited to, a prepatterned piece of metal or other rigid structurewhich is held onto the carrier substrate, a prepatterned tape-typematerial which attaches to the carrier substrate, or a viscous materialapplied to the predetermined portion of the organic compound layer byany known means, such as stenciling, spray-on, roll on, screen printedapplication, and the like. The carrier substrate is then cleaned toremove the organic compound layer. However, the mask protects the maskedportion of the organic material layer. The mask may completely resistthe cleaning step, wherein the mask would be removed with an appropriateprocessing step, or the mask may be ablated away during the cleaningstep to leave at least a portion of the original portion of the organicmaterial layer which becomes a release layer to facilitate gate break.If a prepatterned metal or other rigid structure or tape-type materialis used as a mask, the mask is simply removed after the cleaning step.

An encapsulant mold is placed over the carrier substrate andsemiconductor chip, such that a cavity of the encapsulant mold issubstantially centered over the semiconductor chip. An encapsulantmaterial is injected into the encapsulant mold cavity through at leastone interconnection channel which is connected to an encapsulantmaterial source. The release layer is formed in a position to reside atthe bottom of the interconnection channel. Preferably, theinterconnection channel has a gate adjacent the encapsulant mold cavityto control the flow and injection velocity of the encapsulant materialinto the encapsulant mold cavity.

The encapsulant material solidifies and the encapsulant mold is removed,wherein the gate forms an indentation abutting the cavity. Excessencapsulant solidified in the interconnection channel is leveraged fromthe surface of the carrier substrate and broken free at the indentation.Optionally, the remaining release layer may then be removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming that which is regarded as the present invention,the advantages of this invention can be more readily ascertained fromthe following description of the invention when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a chip-on-board assembly having anorganic compound layer therein;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the chip-on-board assembly having amask patterned on the organic compound layer;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the chip-on-board assemblyafter cleaning;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulant mold covering asemiconductor chip on the chip-on-board assembly;

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the encapsulant mold filledwith encapsulant material;

FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulated semiconductorchip prior to the removal of excess channel encapsulant;

FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulated semiconductorchip with the excess channel encapsulant leveraged from the carriersubstrate;

FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulated semiconductorchip after the removal of excess channel encapsulant;

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulated semiconductorchip after removal of the release layer;

FIG. 11 is an oblique view of a pair of semiconductor componentselectrically connected to a carrier substrate by wire bonds according toa known technique;

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of an encapsulant mold covering semiconductorcomponents according to a known technique;

FIG. 13 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulant mold covering asemiconductor component according to a known technique;

FIG. 14 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulant filled moldaccording to a known technique;

FIG. 15 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulated semiconductorcomponent prior to the removal of excess channel encapsulant accordingto a known technique; and

FIG. 16 is a side cross-sectional view of an encapsulated semiconductorcomponent after removal of excess channel encapsulant according to aknown technique.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-10 illustrate a method of utilizing a residual organic compoundlayer on the surface of a carrier substrate which is used to facilitateremoval of unwanted encapsulant material deposited on the carriersubstrate during the molding operation according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. It should be understood that the figurespresented in conjunction with this description are not meant to beactual views of any particular portion of an actual semiconductorcomponent or molding device, but are merely idealized representationswhich are employed to more clearly and fully depict the process of theinvention than would otherwise he possible.

During the fabrication of the carrier substrate or during variouschip-on-board attachment processes, such as attaching a semiconductorchip with an adhesive to a carrier substrate, a thin layer of organiccompounds forms over a surface of the carrier substrate on which thesemiconductor chip is attached. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplarychip-on-board assembly 100 comprising a semiconductor chip 102 attachedto a carrier substrate 104, such as a printed circuit board (e.g.,FR-4), ceramic or silicon substrate, wherein electrical contact, such asbetween pads on semiconductor chip 102 and traces on the surface of thecarrier substrate 104, is made with wire bonds 106. It is, of course,understood that the semiconductor chip 102 could be in electricalcommunication with the carrier substrate 104 by other techniques, suchas TAB or flip-chip attachment.

As discussed above, a thin organic compound layer 108 is present on thecarrier substrate 104. The organic compound layer 108 is generallystripped with a cleaning step, such as plasma cleaning, beforeencapsulating the semiconductor chip 102, so that an encapsulantmaterial will adhere to the carrier substrate 104. However, it has beenfound that a portion of the organic compound layer 108 may be shieldedfrom this stripping and used as a release layer.

FIGS. 2-3 illustrate a side cross-sectional view and a top plan view,respectively, of a mask 112 applied over a specific portion of theorganic compound layer 108. It is, of course, understood that the mask112 can be any material which is capable of masking the organic compoundlayer 108 including, but not limited to, a prepatterned piece of metalor other rigid structure which is held onto the carrier substrate 104, aprepatterned tape-type material which attaches to the carrier substrate104, or a viscous material applied to the predetermined portion of theorganic compound layer 108 by any known means, such as stenciling,spray-on, roll on, screen printed application, and the like.

After the application of the mask 112, the carrier substrate 104 is thencleaned to remove the organic compound layer 108. However, the mask 112protects the masked portion of the organic compound layer 108. The mask112 may completely resist the cleaning step, wherein the mask 112 wouldbe removed with an appropriate processing step, or the mask 112 may beablated away during the cleaning step to leave at least a portion of theoriginal portion of the organic compound layer 108, which becomes arelease layer 114, as shown in FIG. 4. If the mask 112 is a prepatternedpiece of rigid material or tape-type material, the mask 112 is simplyremoved from the carrier substrate 104 after the cleaning step.

As shown in FIG. 5, an encapsulant mold 116 is placed over the carriersubstrate 104 and semiconductor chip 102, such that a cavity 118 of theencapsulant mold 116 is substantially centered over the semiconductorchip 102. The encapsulant mold 116 is pressed against the carriersubstrate 104 to prevent the border of the carrier substrate 104 frombeing covered by encapsulant material to be subsequently injected.

The encapsulant mold cavity 118 is connected to an encapsulant materialsource (not shown) by an interconnection channel 122. The release layer114 is formed in a position to reside as the bottom of theinterconnection channel 122, as shown in FIG. 5. Preferably, theinterconnection channel 122 has a constriction or gate 124 adjacent theencapsulant mold cavity 118 to control the flow and injection velocityof encapsulant material into the encapsulant mold cavity 118.

As shown in FIG. 6, a molten encapsulant material 126 is injected underpressure into the encapsulant mold cavity 118 through theinterconnection channel 122 to fill the encapsulant mold cavity 118. Theencapsulant material 126 in the encapsulant mold cavity 118 and theinterconnection channel 122 cools and solidifies and the encapsulantmold 116 is removed, as shown in FIG. 7. The gate 124 (see FIG. 5) formsan indentation 128 abutting the encapsulant mold cavity 118. Excessencapsulant 132 solidified in the interconnection channel 122 isleveraged from the surface of the carrier substrate 104, as shown inFIG. 8, and broken free at the indentation 128, as shown in FIG. 9.Optionally, the remaining release layer 114 may be removed to form theencapsulated structure 134, as shown in FIG. 10.

Having thus described in detail preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the invention defined by theappended claims is not to be limited by particular details set forth inthe above description, as many apparent variations thereof are possiblewithout departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A chip-on-board assembly comprising: a carrier substrate; at least one semiconductor device attached to said carrier substrate, wherein an encapsulant material encases said at least one semiconductor device; and an organic material-containing residual path extending from a location proximate said at least one semiconductor device to a periphery of said carrier substrate.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said organic material-containing residual path comprises a hydrophobic organic compound layer.
 3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is formulated to facilitate removal of an encapsulant material portion thereon.
 4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is disposed adjacent said encapsulant material encasing said at least one semiconductor device.
 5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is configured as a release layer to release any encapsulant material formed thereon.
 6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is configured to facilitate gate break of encapsulant material formed thereover.
 7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is configured to extend a width and a length over said carrier substrate corresponding to a channel of an encapsulant mold.
 8. A carrier assembly for facilitating removal of unwanted encapsulant material formed in an interconnection channel when filling an encapsulant mold connected to the interconnection channel, the assembly comprising: a carrier; at least one semiconductor device attached to said carrier; and an organic material-containing residual path overlying a portion of said carrier, said organic material-containing residual path extending from a first location proximate said at least one semiconductor device to a second location on said carrier, said organic material-containing residual path positioned over said carrier to correspond with the interconnection channel to be positioned over said organic material-containing residual path.
 9. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said organic material-containing residual path comprises a hydrophobic organic compound layer.
 10. The assembly of claim 8, further comprising an encapsulant material encasing said at least one semiconductor device and extending over at least a portion of the organic material-containing residual path.
 11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is configured to facilitate removal of said encapsulant material portion thereon.
 12. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said second location on said carrier is proximate a periphery of said carrier.
 13. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is configured to extend a width and a length over said carrier corresponding to the interconnection channel connected to the encapsulant mold.
 14. A carrier substrate for attaching at least one semiconductor device and facilitating removal of unwanted encapsulant material formed in an interconnection channel when filling an encapsulant mold connected to the interconnection channel and positioned over the at least one semiconductor device, the carrier substrate comprising: an organic material-containing residual path overlying said carrier substrate and extending from a first location proximate at least one semiconductor device attachment location to a second location on said carrier substrate, said organic material-containing residual path positioned on said carrier substrate to correspond with the interconnection channel to be positioned over said organic material-containing residual path.
 15. The carrier substrate of claim 14, wherein said organic material-containing residual path comprises a hydrophobic organic compound layer.
 16. The carrier substrate of claim 14, wherein said organic material-containing residual path is configured to extend a width and a length over said carrier substrate corresponding to the interconnection channel connected to the encapsulant mold.
 17. The carrier substrate of claim 14, wherein said second location is proximate a periphery of said carrier substrate. 